🏨 Earn Marriott points just for signing up for the program
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Since there are a few solid promotions going on with Marriott Bonvoy these days, I thought I'd share one of them with you today... and it's super simple.
Marriott Bonvoy is currently offering 2,500 bonus points for new members who sign up using a specific link.
Here are the details:
- Sign up
- Stay 1 night
- Get 2,500 points
Was that breakdown necessary? Probably not. Did it convey just how simple it is to get free points? Hopefully yes.
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This offer isn't anything to write home about, but it is something to write... a newsletter... about... I guess.
If you're going to sign up for a new program, you might as well get some free points out of it. While 2,500 points isn't a TON of points, there are ways to maximize this offer.
For example, if you have multiple people in your household, you could all register for this offer. If you have three people and need to take a 3-day trip together, you could each sign up for the offer and book an individual night at the same property, earning you 7,500 bonus points.
Because Marriott lets you transfer up to 100,000 points per year to any other member (without any fees), you could then pool these points together into one account. And if you think 7,500 points are meaningless, think again.
Just a few days ago I was booking hotels for a trip I have coming up in a couple of months to Uzbekistan. As it turns out, there is only one Marriott property in Tashkent, and it only costs 6,500 points per night.
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There are plenty of Marriott properties around the world that you could book for under 7,500 points per night. So here's my advice: if you aren't a Marriott Bonvoy member, take 5 seconds to enroll now, regardless of whether or not you have any travel plans. If you do end up making plans, you'll get some free points out of it without needing to put in extra work.
As far as I know, none of the other major hotel chains have an offer for new members to get bonus points in addition to their existing or targeted promotions.
And speaking of existing/targeted promotions... well, you'll have to stay tuned for Monday's newsletter 😉
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✈️ Free Emirates miles on hotel bookings
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If you've been in the points and miles game for a while, you probably have a list of aspirational points redemptions on your bucket list.
If you're a normal person, Emirates First Class and/or Business Class is probably on that list.
But racking up Emirates miles isn't the easiest thing. After all, Emirates doesn't belong to any major airline alliance, and their flights are rarely the cheapest option out there.
You might be surprised to learn that there are actually lots of ways to earn Emirates miles, regardless of where you live in the world or how often you fly on Emirates. Today, I'm going to tell you about one of those ways: booking hotels.
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Like many other major airlines, Emirates allows you to earn miles when booking hotels through its dedicated portal. Surprisingly, there are tons of hotels in just about every corner of the world that fit any budget.
To make things even more exciting, Emirates is also offering a sweet promotion on hotel bookings right now. Here are the details:
- Earn up to 10,000 bonus miles per night (the amount varies by hotel)
- Earn 2,000 bonus miles per stay if you book before November 18th
- Earn 2,500 more miles per stay if you own an Emirates credit card
- Stays can take place through September 2023
While this sounds like an incredible deal, I've found that the hotels offering the full 10,000 miles per night are more high-end, expensive hotels.
However, I did find some pretty solid gems for lower-priced hotels with lower mileage bonuses that offer great value.
All of the following are examples of 3-night bookings:
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In the first example above, a 3-night booking at $20/night equals $60 total (math 💪🏼). Because Emirates miles are worth about 1 cent each, you're getting about $40 of value back, or a roughly 67% return.
The reality is that you can easily get close to 3 cents of value per point when booking Emirates First Class, but let's keep the estimates conservative for now.
In the third example above, you're getting 10,000 miles back on a 3-night stay of $366, or a 27% return.
Given that you can book Emirates First Class seats for as little as 85,000 miles one-way, this combination of promotions could definitely give you a big boost toward hitting that goal.
Remember that you can also transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to Emirates at a 1:1 ratio. So between this promo and signing up for a credit card with a sweet bonus, you could potentially book a $10,000 flight on Emirates for a few hundred bucks out of pocket. Not too shabby.
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🌱 In partnership with Athletic Greens®
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So, you know how I got REALLY sick last week while traveling through India?
Yea that wasn’t fun.
The fact is that it’s hard to get all the right nutrients and vitamins while being on the move, especially on a 9-week trip around the world.
Thankfully for you (and for me), Athletic Greens exists.
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AG1 by Athletic Greens is more than just… well… greens. It supplies necessary multivitamins and minerals, pre/probiotics, immune support, digestive support, and more, all in a single scoop.
AG1 is an essential and effortless routine to give you the peace of mind that your body's getting the nutrients it needs, every day. AG1 helps us be more resilient through the holidays and colder months, through all-day energy, gut health, and immunity support.
What I love most about Athletic Greens is that you can order a big ‘ol bucket of the stuff, OR you can get it in neat little travel packets, which are PERFECT to take on a trip around the world or as you head out the door for work. Maybe if I’d taken my 67 packets with me, I wouldn’t be slowly melting into a pile of sinus-related ooze. (Ok, I’m being a teeny bit overdramatic)
Anyway, we’ve got a special treat for you: Place an order and get your health back in your hands with AG1 today and you'll also get:
- A free welcome kit
- A year’s supply of Vitamin D
- Flexible delivery schedule
- 60-day money-back guarantee.
So there’s really no reason not to try this out. I’ll even make it as simple as humanly possible for you 👇
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Please stay healthy, people. Okay, now back to the newsletter.
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🤦♂️ Lufthansa flight gets double-diverted
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The thought of being on a flight that gets diverted for one reason or another may seem scary to some. The reality is that flights get diverted all the time for reasons ranging from sick passengers to mechanical issues to airspace restrictions and more.
What you don't see every day, however, is a flight that gets diverted twice... on the same night.
Well, for an unlucky group of Lufthansa passengers this week, that's exactly what happened. Tuesday evening, a Lufthansa flight from Boston to Munich attempted TWO different takeoffs, only to return to Boston both times.
The first attempted flight took off as planned and began its climb, only to level off, dump some fuel, and return to Boston due to engine issues. Here's what that unfortunate, eventful flight looked like:
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After about 4 hours on the ground and some troubleshooting of the issue, the plane was ready to head to Munich. I can imagine that many passengers were probably frustrated by this delay... But hey, at least it's only a few hours delayed, right?
Wrong. After the plane took off again, the pilots reported the same issue at the same altitude. Level-off, dump fuel, rinse, repeat, aaaaaaaaand back to Boston again.
At around 2 AM (after what was supposed to be an 8 PM flight), they decided to call it quits and cancel the flight... obviously.
Now you might think that something like this is super rare. While that's definitely true, there have actually been a number of double diversions recently, including flights with Finnair, Aer Lingus, and TUI Belgium. I guess 'tis the season for double-diversions.
Alright, enough nerdy plane talk for this week.
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Wow, those are some pretty epic hotel deals, huh? I don't know about you, but the thought of flying on Emirates first class just from some strategic hotel stays is pretty darn enticing.
Which one of these hotel promos are you most excited about? Are you going to try Athletic Greens risk-free? Let me know by replying to this email or reaching out on social media.
And, most importantly... have a wonderful weekend 💕
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